Five reasons I prefer an electric piano
In piano lessons, it’s common for teachers to encourage their students to “upgrade” to an 88-key acoustic piano as soon as possible. This can leave many learners feeling frustrated if they cannot afford to purchase a new instrument or maintain the one they already have!
But I actually embrace the use of digital pianos in my lessons! In fact, I love digital pianos so much that I bought an electric piano for my own use!
Today I want to share five reasons I love having an electric piano, that have nothing to do with cost, so that you can see how an electric piano might actually be a better fit for you! Enjoy!
Reason #1: You can plug in headphones and play any time you want!
Sometimes the urge to play comes upon you in the middle of the night and you don’t want to disturb your family or neighbours. Having an electric piano that you can plug headphones into gives you more freedom to play when you want. And as any teacher knows, more opportunities to play means more opportunities to learn!
Reason #2: You can play around with the sound bank
This reason might seem like a “side” option that isn’t actually beneficial to learning piano, but I disagree! The more fun you can have at your piano, the faster you’ll learn because your songs will be more enjoyable to learn. And let’s face it, playing around with sounds is fun! If you’re learning a song in the classical style, you can turn your keyboard to a harpsichord setting and pretend you’ve been transported back and are playing with the original composers! If you’re learning blues, maybe a nice organ sound helps your melodies sing. These are really fun things to do with your electric piano! You can’t do that with an acoustic piano because it has one sound: piano. With an electric keyboard, you can lose yourself in your imagination and play for many more hours than you would have otherwise.
Reason #3: It’s easier to record your music
If you want to create recordings of your music to share with friends, family, or social media, it’s really easy to plug an electric instrument into your computer. Most keyboards have a “line out” or MIDI jack which is specifically there to connect your keyboard to a computer. Comparatively, an acoustic piano will sound muffled if you don’t have the exact right microphones and recording set-up. Having an easy way to record and share your music promotes — you guessed it! — more time at your piano, and even the opportunity to compose and share your own songs.
Reason #4: You can plug an electric keyboard into other instruments
There’s a lot of fun to be had plugging your instrument into other electronic instruments! For example, a sequencer is a device that will record your music and play it back in repetitive loops so you can layer sounds, melodies, and rhythms to create your own orchestra! You can also plug your keyboard into a MIDI sound bank to try new sounds that aren’t already loaded into your instrument. The electric keyboard offers so many fun opportunities for experimentation and play that just isn’t available with an acoustic piano.
Reason #5: You can bring your keyboard on the road
An electric instrument is wayyy more portable than an acoustic piano! This means more opportunities to play, practice, and perform. I love having the option of taking my keyboard with me when I go away for a weekend because it gives me an extra way to unwind. My electric piano is my favourite instrument in the world — why wouldn’t I want it on holiday with me?? I’ve even taught while I’ve been away to let me have a little extra time with family! For learners, though, it can just be a way to play more often or to share your talent with more people. And as I’ve said before, more opportunities to play mean more opportunities to improve your skill!
What do you think?
So as far as I’m concerned, the electric piano or keyboard is an unsung hero in the world of piano lessons! I’d love to know, what do you have? An acoustic piano or an electric piano? And which would you prefer? Let me know in the comments!